By Tina Kapoor | Head of Communications
A farmer's daughter, 17 years old Suman is articulate and speaks her mind, she hails from a small village in Uttar Pradesh. She is well aware of discrimination girl’s face in her community and shares “Most girls in my village are 5th pass, barely anyone makes it to class 8th but that is not the scenario of boys, they are educated and also allowed to travel outside to pursue college while girls are not allowed because parents fear their safety.”
Uttar Pradesh accounts for the highest number of school dropout girls in India along with the highest crime rate faced by girls and women in the country.
Suman’s father is highly supportive of her education despite being uneducated himself, unlike her mother who often pushes her for marriage and restricts her. Suman shares that “If you will not try, change will never happen, even if not a huge change happens I'm sure I will be able to bring some change”
Suman doesn’t like the fact that girls are not allowed to wear what they want, a choice as simple as clothes is also not available to girls in her community. She says “girls are humans too, the way God has made boys he’s made girls too, and girls also have feelings and must be heard equally.” Suman’s mother is not keen to educate her after class 12th, she fears that an educated daughter means more dowry. Suman shares “I have made it very clear to my father that I will not get married in a house where they ask for dowry, many people get proposals for me, but my father refuses.”
Suman aspires to be the first graduate from her village and create a difference for girls in her community. She is working with girls and supporting them to complete their education. She feels proud of lead change as a grassroots changemaker and is confident that it will help her move forward and strengthen support from her family especially her mother.
Suman as a Girl Icon is empowering 20 adolescent girls in her community by regularly convening them to impart life skills education and providing them with a safe space to take collective action on girls' education. She is one of the active Girl Icons and has been leading community engagement to drive systemic change in her community. She shares “I love attending leadership training of the program, the training is helping me grow, also is helping me to enhance my communication skills.
With your continued support girls like Suman are challenging gender norms that restrict girls from education and push them into child marriage. You can change the destinies of girls and help them break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by investing in grassroots girl leaders and ensure girls are educated, healthy and safe!
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